Changes in Students’ Speech Performance Through Repeated Impromptu Speaking Tasks

• Published in: KATE Journal Vol. 37; pp. 225 - 238
• Main Author: SAKATA, Takahiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Kantokoshinetsu Association of Teachers of English 2023; 関東甲信越英語教育学会
• Subjects: スピーキング; 即興; 帯活動; 流暢さ; 繰り返し
• ISSN: 2185-8993; 2432-7409
• DOI: 10.20806/katejournal.37.0_225

This article reports on a teaching practice that implemented the same speaking tasks three times with Japanese high school students and explores its effects on their utterance fluency. The students were given a 1-minute impromptu speaking task at the beginning of each English lesson throughout one term. After engaging in 10 different topics in 10 lessons (one task per lesson), they were given the first task again and thus repeated the same tasks three times. The results showed that the average number of spoken words in each task went up significantly, suggesting the effect of task repetition on the participants’ fluency, regardless of the differences in topics. However, despite the three-time task repetition, some students produced fewer words in the third round than in their first round. A close examination of their products revealed that those who tried to convey different ideas in the third round from their first one tended to have lower fluency. The study recommends that teachers ensure students build on their previous performance when repeating tasks to enhance fluency.